For the majority of the 2024-25 season, Marist men’s basketball felt on top of the world.
The Red Foxes recorded their 20th win against Niagara on Feb. 23, marking their first 20-win season since the 2006-07 season. With a 13-3 conference record, Marist stood poised to make a run at the first seed in the MAAC tournament, and maybe, even win a chance to play in March Madness.
In just two weekends, their season took a turn for the worse.
Key injuries to centers Jackson Price and Jason Schofield decimated their frontcourt, and Marist dropped four straight games to close the regular season. Entering the MAAC Quarterfinals as the No. 3 seed, they lost to the No. 6 seed Mount St. Mary’s for the second time in five days.
The team that sold out McCann Arena for the first time since 2008 suddenly became a footnote for another early MAAC Tournament exit.
“It’s bittersweet when you should be excited about a 20-win season, but then you end on five [losses] and get knocked out in the quarters. It leaves a sour taste in your mouth, regardless of the 20 [wins],” said head coach John Dunne.
Entering his eighth season at the helm, Dunne has a revamped roster of trusted players and exciting new blood, all with the same goal in mind.
Who’s In, Who’s Out
Entering the offseason, two starters needed replacement: guard Josh Pascarelli and the aforementioned Price. All-MAAC first-teamer Pascarelli transferred to Colorado State after averaging a team-high 15.9 points on an efficient 39.3 percent from three.
Price played his final collegiate season in Poughkeepsie and has made his way to a different set of foxes—the Pully Laussane Foxes of the Swiss Basketball League. He finished third on the team in scoring with 9.4 points per game, meaning Dunne will have to retool the offense without the spacing he brought to the court. Price’s 88 three-point attempts ranked third on the team, and shot 34.1 percent, second behind Pascarelli for players who attempted more than 50.
To fill the void left behind by Pascarelli, Dunne and the coaching staff got aggressive in the transfer portal, acquiring sophomore guard Justin Menard from MAAC rival Iona and graduate student guard Rhyjon Blackwell from Division II program USC Aiken.
Menard is a good three-point shooter, recording a 35.5 percent shooting percentage last season with Iona, but what stands out is his ability to make sound decisions. The second-year guard posted a 3.5-1 assist-to-turnover ratio in 22 minutes per game last season.
“Menard can shoot the ball extremely effectively, but he also has really good vision and can really see the court when he’s looking to be a passer. We want him to be a guy that’s aggressive, shooting threes, but at the same time, we want him to be a playmaker for others,” said Dunne.
Blackwell brings eruptive scoring on all three levels. The 25-year-old averaged 13.3 points per game on a 37.6 percent clip for USC Aiken last season and brings six seasons of collegiate basketball experience.
More moves for the Red Foxes include the loss of guards Travis Roberts and Caleb Mackrey, the acquisition of redshirt sophomore guard Ricky McKenzie from Kennesaw State and the recruitment of freshmen forward Myles Parker and center Jordan Gabriel. Parker marks the second active Marist player who graduated from Rutgers Prep, as he and junior guard Jadin Collins-Roberts were teammates.
Two-Guards
With the departure of Pascarelli and Price from the starting lineup, much of the offensive load rests on the shoulders of Collins-Roberts and senior guard Elijah Lewis.
Both Lewis and Collins-Roberts were Preseason All-MAAC selections, landing on the second team and third team, respectively.
Lewis finished second on the team in scoring last year at 11.6 points per game, pouring in shots from his spots in the mid-range, being the only volume scorer with a free-throw percentage above 80 percent, at 82.7. His prowess at the line has yet to translate beyond the arc, as he shot a poor 27.7 percent on 94 attempts.
The senior ended fourth on the team in usage rate at 22.1 in 2024, and is primed for an uptick in scoring volume this year. If he can match any of his two seasons at Adelphi, where he averaged 42 percent from distance, he’ll open up a lot for this offense.
Collins-Roberts is another candidate for a shooting leap. He posted the worst three-point percentage on the team at 16.7 percent last season, and he’s well aware of the improvements he needs to make.
“JCR is in the gym every day, grinding his shot. It looks really good, and I think he’ll be a much more efficient shooter,” said Dunne.
Collins-Roberts will remain the primary initiator of this offense, using his quick bursts of athleticism and court vision to set up his teammates. He was far and away the team’s leader in assists last year with 112 and an assist percentage of 21.8, while being much more turnover-conscious than in his freshman year.
Another headline for Collins-Roberts comes from the coaching staff, as Dunne has named him an official captain, an honor Dunne has abstained from for most of his coaching career.
“I don’t name captains, I never have since my early days as a head coach,” said Dunne. “He’s started every game since he’s been here. He’s been extremely mature since the first day. He’s sacrificed his own personal gain for others and to win.”
“That doesn’t mean we won’t have a leadership group,” Dunne continued. “Elijah Lewis is extremely mature, Jaden Daughtry is a vocal, emotional leader for us.”
The Low Post
When Price went down in the final stretch of the season, Schofield and sophomore center Tarik Watson got thrust into the frontcourt. The absence of the floor-spacing ability of Price resulted in an influx of low-post possessions and dribble hand-offs through the two underclassmen, and Dunne is looking to carry that philosophy into this season.
“Schofield can really put the ball in the basket from the low post, and Tarik Watson has really improved a lot with his ability [in the low post], he’s very comfortable,” said Dunne. “Those two guys will get more touches in the little pivot.”
Schofield will not be intimidated by a bigger ask: the Poughkeepsie native led the team in usage rate at 27.7 despite never starting a game behind Watson. His offensive rebounding percentage (15.5) and assist percentage (23.5) are extremely encouraging and suggest flashes of real talent, but will likely regress as Schofield puts more games under his belt.
Both Watson’s and Schofield’s health statuses are shaky ahead of opening night, and that could open up playing time for Gabriel, who has been seeing a hefty workload in practice. If not Gabriel, sophomore forward Parby Kabamba could play minutes at the five, despite his undersized height of 6-foot-6.
Pacing Themselves
It’s no secret that Dunne favors a slower brand of basketball: Marist ranked last in the MAAC in tempo (64.2 possessions per 40 minutes) and 11th in average possession time (19 seconds). This will remain largely the case, as Dunne does not plan to shy away from longer-developing sets searching for a good look.
Shot quality is paramount to Dunne. His unit shoots a respectable amount of threes, logging a three-point rate of 37.2 percent last season, albeit at a below-average 31.4 shooting percentage. 55.7 percent of Marist’s points last season came from inside the arc, good for 26th in all of Division I basketball.
“The quantity of the three doesn’t matter to me,” said Dunne. “If they’re the right threes; if they’re inside-out threes and rhythm threes, you’ll take 30 or 40 of them, if they’re the right shots.”
With Blackwell and Menard both being able to torch the nets, Dunne hopes to use the low-post and rim pressure to free up the right shots for his newcomers, but that requires apt decision-making and unselfish ball movement.
“Being able to flow, moving the ball, cutting, getting somebody else open—that’s been the main focus so far in our practices,” said Collins-Roberts.
The most glaring issue for Dunne’s offense is its inability to generate opportunities at the stripe. Their 22.4 free-throw rate ranked second-last in the nation last season, highlighting a lack of aggression in attacking the rim and drawing contact.
“We didn’t create fouls….that’s personnel driven. We didn’t have guys that created fouls or a lot of contact on drives. We weren’t really a dribble drive team,” said Dunne.
The team stands to benefit from getting out on the break, utilizing the athleticism of players like Collins-Roberts and senior forward Jaden Daughtry to capitalize on defensive stops.
“I can’t remember a time where something good didn’t happen when the guy who gets the rebound is pushing the ball and the other guys are running with him,” said Collins-Roberts. “We’re looking to push it, for sure.”
Protecting the Den
The constricting defense of the Red Foxes has become their hallmark, and their numbers last season reflect their effort and intensity on that side of the floor—sixth in opponent two-point percentage (44.9), 23rd in opponent effective field goal percentage (46.9) and 18th in opponent offensive rebound percentage (25.6) in all of Division I.
Leading the charge on that end is Daughtry—his 6-foot-7 frame and athleticism make him a tough individual matchup for opposing players, and he swept the defensive categories, leading the team in rebounds per game (6.3), steals per game (1.4) and blocks per game (1.0).
Moreover, his defensive rebound percentage (20.5), block percentage (4.7) and steal percentage (3.5) all led the team, highlighting his impact beyond the box score.
It will always be about forcing contested shots for Dunne’s defense; playing with intensity, communicating constantly and turning stops into good half-court offense.
“I don’t want to lose to a team’s strengths. I want you to beat us in another way,” said Dunne.
Attack the MAAC
Marist’s out-of-conference schedule features two heavy hitters: they open their season against Xavier in Cincinnati and travel to Atlanta later in the season to take on Georgia Tech.
“This year in particular, we wanted to up our schedule a bit. Our program is in a better place these last couple of years. Now is a good time to be a bit more challenging,” said Dunne.
Marist landed fifth on this year’s preseason MAAC Coaches Poll, a drop-off from the heights of second last season, no doubt predicated on the losses of Pascarelli and Price.
At this stage in Dunne’s tenure, the poll means as much as any other outside noise. His unit will be gunning for the postseason again, but with their past two trips to the MAAC Tournament ending in disappointment, the Red Foxes want to finish the job.
“We have a different type of hunger, a little chip on our shoulder,” said Collins-Roberts. “The practices have been way more physical and intense this year.”
With some players staring down their final games of college basketball and others familiar with postseason defeat, there is a heightened sense of urgency within the program. After years of steady growth culminating in their past two breakout seasons, they are ready to turn potential into payoff.
Edited by Ryan Eichem and Ben Leeds
Graphic by August Lieberman
Photos by Marist Athletics
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